Bob Kerr reports on Tony and Sylvia DeLuca will go to the State House to testify in support of the bill legalizing marriage equality in Rhode Island.

Kerr: "They attended the wedding of their daughter Luisa to her partner Brenda Harvey last June in Provincetown, Mass., where marriage is as it should be — a matter of love and commitment between two people."

Why do people get married? There are plenty of practical reasons that might not be so romantic – but for most of us, it's to bring a relationship to the next level. It's a declaration of love and commitment in front of family, friends, and the world. That was the reason for Chris Herbert and Tim Long.

A handful of U.S. states are poised to take up the issue of marriage equality afresh, due largely to incoming lawmakers who may tip the balance in favor of the controversial measure.

"The work of persuasion, of personal conversations, of talking to lawmakers and mobilizing against a well-funded anti-gay opposition" are among the primary tasks for the lobbying group Freedom to Marry, said founder Evan Wolfson. "With the freedom to marry within reach this year in states such as New York, Maryland and Rhode Island, now is the time to have those conversations and move marriage forward," he said.

Thursday, the Department of Justice filed its defense of the Defense of Marriage Act in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in a single filing for both Gill v. Office of Personnel Management and Massachusetts v. United States.

This past July, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro ruled that Section Three of DOMA -- which sets a federal definition for "marriage" and spouse" -- is unconstitutional.

Maryland is poised to become the sixth state to legally honor the marriages of same-sex couples as proponents say they believe they have enough support to pass such a measure in the upcoming legislative session.

The historic marriage of Episcopal Divinity School, dean and president, the Very Reverend Katherine Hancock Ragsdale and Mally Lloyd, Canon to the Ordinary, took place on Saturday at the Cathedral Church of St Paul in Boston.